The lobby of the Daily Planet was already bustling with reporters and other employees eager to get home.

Usually Irene would have been eager to head home herself, but as she walked alongside Clark Kent she realized that it had been a long time since she had been on a date. Though she wasn't entirely sure if it was a date. Maybe he intended for it to be a work dinner where they would discuss the story they would be working on together. Afterall, she had neglected to tell him about the possible illegal use of Kryptonian technology.

"So have you finally adjusted to The Daily Planet?" Irene questioned as they walked across the lobby. Although they saw each other everyday she hadn't had much of a chance to ever really talk to Clark, everybody at the Planet loved the well-mannered Clark Kent.

"I don't think I've ever been at a job this long. I've always been on the move." Clark admitted, and as much as Irene was always on the move to cover the next story she always had a sense of stability in her life. She had her brother, Jimmy, and the Daily Planet as constants in her life, until recently Clark had been everywhere trying to find out who he was and where he came from. "Everyone at the Planet has been so welcoming. On the whole I say it's been swell."

Irene came to a stop and turned towards Clark unsure of whether she was shocked or amused. Clark was raised on a small farm in Kansas, he was well mannered and kind. Hedidn't stand out by his looks but by the fact that he clearly wasn't from the city. "Swell?"

"Yes."

"You know Clark there aren't many people who use the word swell anymore." Irene pointed out as they walked down the stairs leading to the lobby of the building. A smaller scaled replica of the Planet's famous globe sat in the center, identical to the one that sat at the roof of the building. It was an old building, having only been remodeled once since 1938, but it was still Irene's favorite place to be.

"I don't see why. Swell is a perfectly nice word." He argued as Irene stepped into the revolving door, Clark following right behind her causing the door to become stuck in the process as he fumbled with his suitcase. She and Clark practically stumbled their way out of the revolving door, something that she would have found amusing if she wasn't so shocked. "Sorry."

Again Irene found herself surprised by Clark. Mainly because this wasn't the Clark she had first met out in the fields of Smallville. Although he was always a well-mannered farmboy, he now seemed to act like someone so clumsy he could hardly take a step without tripping over his own two feet. It was all clearly some kind of act, but she couldn't seem to understand why he chose to be someone else while at the Daily Planet. "Why do you do that?"

"Do what?" He questioned as he adjusted the strap of his briefcase.

"Act clumsy and unsure of yourself. You try to make yourself small."

"Because those are all things people don't expect of Superman." Clark replied, but Irene felt like there was more to his decision than that. There was so much about Clark Kent that she didn't know, and that was an unsettling thought. "No one looks twice at Clark Kent."

"I don't believe that's entirely true." Irene stated because although people didn't see Superman when they saw Clark Kent, there was still something about him that made him impossible to not see.

They continued their walk down the street, they had agreed on a nearby restaurant only two blocks from the Daily Planet. There was so much that Irene wanted to ask Clark, even though she had written an entire story on Superman it still felt that she knew nothing about Clark Kent. He seemed so reserved, but that had to be due to the fact that he had only known loneliness his entire life.

Suddenly Irene felt as someone came up behind her, pressing an object against her back. Iy caused her to stop in her tracks as she realized what the object was. "Don't say a word or I'll pull the trigger."

The voice was a familiar one, and one that she thought she would never hear again. "John?"

"Shut up. Turn into the alley coming up." He whispered nervously before he realized that Clark was right beside her. Clearly nothing about this was planned, and everything was being done impulsively. Although Irene had never really liked John Corben, she would have never imagined him to be the kind of man that would do this. "And you. Say a word and I'll kill her right now."

Once the three of them turned into the alley walking until they were relatively hidden from the view of any bystanders, Clark put himself between Irene and the gun that was now pointed at his face. Slowly raising his hands "How about we just remain calm?"

"So they replaced me with you?" Corben questioned with disgust. There was hatred in his eyes but it was overshadowed by his obvious fear as the gun shook in his unsteady hand.

"You don't have to do this. You're a better man than this."  Irene said attempting to ease the man that she had worked beside for so many years. She never would have guessed that it would all come to this, and although she knew that neither her or Clark were in any real danger she still wanted to believe that John would never pull that trigger.

That he wasn't too far gone to be helped.

But that all changed when she heard the gunshot, the sound ringing almost painfully in her ears as Irene instinctively closed her eyes. The gunshot was followed by a loud thud, pening her eyes Irene took in the sight of an unconscious John Corben laying on the concrete.

Clark slowly opened his fist revealing the bullet. It was difficult to feel any kind of relief because of the shock of what had happened.

"Are you alright?" Clark questioned as he seemed to study her for any injuries. Irene didn't bother to check for any herself as she looked down at the unconscious John Corben at her feet. Seeing him this way just didn't feel right, he was always a difficult person to get along with and even after what he did Irene had no desire for him to have fallen this low.

He seemed a lot thinner and his hair had grown out, a dramatic change from the man that she had known.

"So... who is he exactly?"

"John Corben." Irene replied feeling a sense of both guilt and annoyance. This was the man that had sold her out on national television, and rightfully fired for it. But seeing him having fallen this far right after was not something that she was either happy or satisfied about. "He used to work at the Daily Planet, before telling the whole world that I knew where Superman was. Perry fired him soon after."

Clark seemed troubled to hear that. To realize that this was so much more personal than either of them imagined. Just letting Corben go wasn't an option.

"What should we do?" She asked unsure of how they were supposed to approach the situation, for a moment she forgot that she was talking to Superman.

Clark had already begun to loosen his tie and before Irene could question him she was already holding his clothes in her hands. He and Corben were already gone, but Irene couldn't help but look around the alley feeling slightly confused.

Before she could think about where Clark had gone he was suddenly standing before her again. He was dressed in his clothes again and after a moment Irene realized that she was still holding her arms out as if she was still carrying his things.

"Hungry?" Clark questioned with a smile as he offered her his arm. Clearly he thought it was best to move on from what had just happened, and although Irene still felt slightly on edge she couldn't help but agree that it was best to move on from it. Putting her arm through his she allowed him to guide her to the restaurant.

They both had an unspoken agreement to not discuss what had happened with Corben as they were seated at their table.

"I hope you're not upset that Perry assigned me to work on your story." Clark commented once they had ordered. Irene was surprised that he did seem concerned with how she felt about it. Although admittedly she was annoyed with having to share her story, she was glad it was Clark with how she was going to work with.

After all this story did involve him and could potentially become an issue that Superman would need to intervene in if her story panned out. "I guess the journalist in me was just protective of her story."

"It's a good story. I could definitely learn a lot from you."

"Well, you can do just about everything. I mean if you could read minds you would also be an unstoppable journalist too." Irene pointed out before she realized that she wasn't entirely sure that he didn't have the ability to read minds. Her heart practically stopped at the thought. "Wait. You can't read minds. Can you?"

Clark smiled as he shook his head in response. "No. I can't read minds."

Irene felt an odd sense of relief at hearing his words. The thought of someone being able to read her mind was worrisome, especially if it was Clark. Irene always seemed to have a million thoughts running through her mind, some of them incredibly embarrassing.

As their dinner went on Irene found herself going back to talking about Cadmus. They were going to start their investigation the next day and she found it important that he was caught up with all the details and research she had collected over the last couple of weeks.

"How about we don't talk about the story?" Clark suddenly asked, and there was something unnerving about the fact that his entire focus seemed to be on her. It was easier for Irene to talk about work, it was something that came naturally to her. Now she couldn't think about anything they could possibly talk about even if there was so much they didn't know about each other.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"I want to talk about you. You know everything there really is to know about me. But I don't know much about you other than how passionate about your work you can be."

"There really isn't much about me to talk about." Irene replied as she straightened in her seat not knowing exactly where to start. She wasn't one to talk about her personal life much, Jimmy was one of the few people that did know about her childhood. Not even Lois or Cat knew much about her personal life.  "I've lived in Metropolis my entire life with my older brother Angel. He practically raised me, and now he has a daughter of his own. Her name is Mia."

"And your parents?"

"Well they were both immigrants here. But my dad died when I was eight, not long after my mom was deported back to Mexico. Angel and I had to stay with my aunt until he turned eighteen. It was hard but we made it through okay." She continued starting to be overcome with the memories, both good and bad. Her childhood wasn't ideal, and of course she wished that things were different. But she didn't want her tragedies to define her, which was why she rarely spoke of them at all.

She wasn't ashamed of her struggles, in fact she thought they made her stronger.

"It looks like you're more than okay. I mean you're a senior writer at the Daily Planet and a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter."

"I'm nominated. I haven't won." Irene reminded him.

Clark smiled confidently looking at Irene almost like he admired her, it was a look that caused her heart to skip a beat. No one had ever looked at her that way. "I know you're going to take that Pulitzer home."

"This is me." Irene stated as she came to a stop at the door to her apartment. For a moment she considered inviting him inside, it was a ridiculous thought considering that he already looked like he wanted to flee. But even she wasn't sure what she expected to happen if she did invite him inside.

Afterall Clark was her coworker not some guy that she met on some dating site or at a bar. The truth was she hadn't been on a date in a very long time, and she wasn't even sure if this was a date at all.

"Good night." He said softly before placing a kiss on her cheek and quickly making his way down the hall. It wasn't until he turned the corner that Irene allowed herself to feel a little disappointed.

Pushing all ridiculous thoughts from her head she stepped into her apartment. The best thing she could do was get her research together before her and Clark began their investigation the next day.

There were so many pieces of the puzzle that just didn't make sense, but Irene was sure that with enough digging they would fit together. Making herself a cup of coffee she picked up her laptop and headed towards the balcony. She felt like she needed fresh air, to clear her mind from everything.

It felt like a pointless task considering that her research on Cadmus was anything but relaxing. If she was right this would be a big story and the answers would not come easy. But before she could begin any of her work the sound of someone clearing their throat caused her to jump. Irene almost dropped her notes and laptop in the process, but as she looked up she was confused to see Superman just above her balcony. His red cape getting softly caught in the wind.

The sight brought her back to the night that he visited her after the Battle of Metropolis. Where he gave her the interview as Superman to write the story that she was now nominated for a Pulitzer for. That night was a long night that unfolded as if they were two strangers and not two people who had gone through so much together.

It had confused Irene then, but she now understood that he was still grieving and processing the guilt he felt for all the death and destruction that had taken place.

Nothing about the day was expected. From their encounter with John Corben and now Superman was flying above her balcony.

"Clark?"  Irene whispered even though it was unlikely that anyone was listening. It was late and the sounds of the still bustling city below them was enough to drown out her voice to any neighbors. "What are you doing?"

"I was just flying by and I saw you." Clark stated casually as his feet touched the balcony floor. "It's a beautiful night."

Personally Irene had never thought much of Metropolis other than it was the city she had lived in her entire life. But as she looked out before her at the blinking city lights, she could see the beauty that Clark saw. Even if it was for a moment. "Yeah it is."

"It's even more beautiful from up there." He replied as he looked up at the night sky. There were no visible stars tonight, but a bare sky was expected in a bustling city like Metropolis.

Irene raised a single eyebrow not sure where he was going with this conversation. "I'm sure it is."

"Want to see?"

Considering the multiple times that Irene had found herself falling from the sky since she had met Clark the idea of being up there should have been terrifying. But the truth was that she had never felt safer than when she was with him.

"Alright." Irene said with all the confidence that she could gather. She found that it wasn't so much the fear of being hundreds of feet in the sky that gave her uncertainty. It was the idea of being so close to Clark that frightened her. Mostly because she didn't know how she would feel when he did.

He had held her before, but that was only after he had saved her from yet another near death experience. As he wrapped an arm around her waist now it was much less awkward than what Irene initially expected.

The instant that her feet were no longer touching the balcony Irene wrapped her arms around Clark's neck. She was sure that Clark would never allow her to fall, but she found that she needed the extra reassurance. And the higher they went the tighter she found herself holding on, from the small smile on Clark's lips he clearly found it amusing

He stopped at what felt like thousands of feet above the ground. She couldn't deny that the feeling of flying so high up was something exhilarating, especially because it felt as if she was leaving all her problems behind.

"It's so quiet up here." Irene stated softly as she looked down. It was difficult to see much through the clouds except for the occasional city lights. But looking up at the sea of brightly shining stars was something so beautiful that it couldn't be put into words.

Even now it was difficult to imagine that Clark wasn't from Earth, that he was from somewhere deep in that sea of stars and planets. There were entire galaxies and planets out in the nothingness of space yet Clark Kent ended up on Earth after his planet was destroyed. There were so many events that led to Clark being here now that it was impossible to comprehend.

"I like to come up here to clear my head." He replied after a moment, his voice distant.

"It must be difficult," Irene began suddenly feeling sorry for Clark. Over the last couple of months he had gone from a farmbof from Kansas to a hero to everyone around the world. Everyone knew who Superman was, and since the Battle of Metropolis Clark spent most of his time being a hero to everyone who needed him. "to be able to hear every time someone needs help."

"It can be." He said and although he clearly had an incredible responsibility that came with his abilities he didn't seem at all resentful. He couldn't help everyone, it was unrealistic even for someone with his abilities. Irene couldn't imagine how difficult it had to be to choose which battles to fight. "You're cold."

His sudden change in subject caught her off guard, but only then did she realize that she was cold. From this high up it felt like her fingers were slowly going numb from the cool wind. "I guess I am."

Without another word Clark flew them back down to her apartment balcony. Before their dinner together Irene had convinced herself that she and Clark should remain friends and colleagues. But with every passing interaction that option felt almost impossible.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" He questioned as he took a step back.

Irene nodded as she offered him a small smile. Earlier Clark had stated that she knew everything that there was to know about him. And maybe she did know a lot about who he was, but she found that there was so much more about him that she wanted to know.

A/N: It's been a long time but I'm back. This chapter is more of a filler but one that develops Irene and Clark's relationship because they are just too cute that I can't handle it. For those of you who caught the references in this chapter let's be best friends. But Irene and Clark aren't going to be the only ones that are going to be finding romance in this book. Can't wait for you all to read what I have planned!